Police detain Kurdish mayor, hang Turkish flag on facade of town hall

A group of police officers in plain clothes detained Mehmet Aydın, the mayor of Mardin’s Savur district from the pro-Kurdish Democratic Regions Party (DBP) and hung a Turkish flag on the facade of the municipal building. Also, trustees have been appointed to Savur affiliated local municipalities governed by the DBP on Saturday.

Police teams reportedly conducted a search at the municipal building on Friday and seized some documents. Media reports stated that police simultaneously raided Aydın’s house. Detention warrants were also issued for 5 others as part of the same investigation.

The trustee has appointed women drivers Fatma Aytin, Serap Ülfer and Zeynep Yorgun to other departments of Van Municipality.

Meanwhile, three women serving as drivers for public transport vehicles in Van have been appointed by the government appointed trustee to another department of the municipality. The Metropolitan Municipality of Van had started a new practice two years ago to provide more comfort for women travelling in the public transportation vehicles. The project called “Cranes with Purple Wings” involved three women drivers.

The trustee, appointed to the Metropolitan Municipality of Van in November, 2016, has fired 620 employees so far and shut down the Women’s Shelter, now cancelled the “Cranes with Purple Wings” project. The trustee has, this time, appointed women drivers Fatma Aytin, Serap Ülfer and Zeynep Yorgun to other departments.

Turkey has stepped up its crackdown on Kurdish politicians in recent months. Trustees have been appointed to dozens of municipalities in the country’s predominantly Kurdish Southeast, while hundreds of local Kurdish politicians have been arrested on terror charges. The number of jailed HDP deputies has risen to 12. The systematic persecution targeting Kurds and elected Kurdish politicians have attracted widespread reactions from the region and Western countries. (SCF with turkeypurge.com) Feb. 25, 2017